Weaving 7
Instructions
Constance is re-reading the instructions for the cotton tea towels. This design is by Jane Stafford, though the colours we have selected are different than the ones she suggests.
Green Hem
Now we’ll weave an entire tea towel according to the pattern. The two bright yellow thick threads are woven in at the end of the previous towel. The new tea towel starts after that – first we weave 1 1/2 inches of dark green for the hem.
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Measuring
We try to be as accurate as possible in measuring so that the balance of the pattern is maintained….
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Stripe pattern
The body of the tea towel will follow the colour sequence in the warp, so next after the hem is an 18 weft stripe pattern. Because this is an 18 warps/inch pattern, we aim to also have 18 wefts/ inch.
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First colour block – dark green
Although the colour sequence is the same in the weft as in the warp, the measurement is different. The colour blocks are four inches wide in the reed, but since we want them to be rectangular in the finished tea towel, we weave six inches of dark green.
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Second Colour Block – Light Green
After weaving the dark green block, we do a stripe sequence and then six inches of light green.
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Third Colour Block – Yellow
Then another stripe sequence followed by 15 cm (approximately the same as six inches) of yellow. As you weave, the finished cloth gets closer and closer to the reed. To make space to weave in you have to stop and wind the cloth towards you around the front beam and onto the roll beneath. You can see the way this works in the first picture of this post.
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Last colour Block – Rust
A stripe sequence and six inches of rust…the weaving is looking pretty even at this point.
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The end
Quimper Hittys 
What a process that is! And the result is amazingly beautiful. Good job, you two!
Thanks – we love making cloth out of string!
I think we all need a Constance to help us through our weaving projects!
Constance is great – she keeps me from getting frustrated, doesn’t mind un-doing mistakes and re-doing things the right way, admires the finished product, and is always ready to start a new project…just at the moment she is encouraging me to try some overshot!
I really like that last photograph – such terrific lighting, and colours. The whole operation seems so international, Constance hailing from Turkey, the loom from Quebec, shuttles from several places, the measuring stick from Minnesota and the tape from the UK and who knows what other sources all being woven into multicultural tea towels.
We marvel at the confluence of things that results in cloth!
We left a comment yesterday, but it probably did not register. The tea-towels being made step by step is a joy to see and Constance’s demonstration is the best – with all the different threads and other stuff. Really, really nice.
We are glad you persisted, it is really nice to get your comments, thanks!
What an absolutely delightful lesson in the loom today! Fabulous set of photographs, and a terrific story to go along!
Thanks – We’re nearing the end of this warp – soon you’ll see the finale!
Constance was quite busy. It’s amazing how adept she is with things on a human scale. She seems at such ease with it.
The tea towels look amazing.
We are both having fun, enjoying the weaving process and documenting it – the icing on the cake will be the finished tea towels!